


here comes the sun (it's been a long cold lonely winter)

by carissima



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M, Gender or Sex Swap, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 20:09:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14268606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carissima/pseuds/carissima
Summary: Okay, so it’s not her fault that Gabe is stupidly attractive. It’s honestly more annoying than anything else that he’s blonde and big and hot and - worst of all - he knows it. It’s also not her fault if she gets flustered in interviews or whatever. That whole stallion thing was weeks ago and it was dumb and yet she’d probably say the exact same thing if she was asked again because she’s nothing but brutally, self-humiliatingly honest. About everything.





	here comes the sun (it's been a long cold lonely winter)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to laura for the super quick beta!

Tyson’s smile lasts until all the beat reporters leave the locker room. As soon as the door closes behind them, her smile fades and she slumps back against her stall, legs sprawled out in front of her. She’s hot, sweaty, her curls are doing that thing where they cling unattractively to her head after a hard game and she’s quickly working herself up from mildly irritated to fucking pissed.

If she has to answer - or evade, mostly - another question suggesting that she has inappropriate feelings towards her captain, then she’s probably going to scream.

Okay, so it’s not her fault that Gabe is stupidly attractive. It’s honestly more annoying than anything else that he’s blonde and big and hot and - worst of all - he knows it. It’s also not her fault if she gets flustered in interviews or whatever. That whole stallion thing was weeks ago and it was dumb and yet she’d probably say the exact same thing if she was asked again because she’s nothing but brutally, self-humiliatingly honest. About everything.

Like, she can deal with Gabe. She deals with him every damn day. He’s her teammate and captain, and she gets along with him just fine. She barely even notices how pretty he is, or how strong he is, except when they’re scrimmaging and he’s trying to knock her off the puck. He’s solid, but so is everyone else on the team. It’s not like Gabe is special or anything. She loves everyone on her team equally.

Except Nate, but he’s her best friend so that’s different.

“Hey buddy,” he says, reaching down to ruffle her curls because he knows it annoys her.

“Get off,” she complains half-heartedly and starts stripping off her shirt. “Go annoy someone else.”

“Nah,” Nate says easily, dropping down next to her. He smells like sweat and boy and Tyson wrinkles her nose in disgust. She doesn’t care how many years she’s been sharing locker rooms with guys, it's still nasty.

“Oh my god, go shower,” she tells him with a hard shove that does absolutely nothing to make him budge.

Nate watches her strip down to her sports bra and briefs and doesn’t flinch when she slumps down next to him again. She knows he’s not watching her to get any sexy thrill out of it, firstly because she’s definitely not his type and secondly because, as she’d had to explain to the media almost every day for a solid year, they’re besties and no she doesn’t want to bone him and no they’re not fucking behind the team’s back.

She hates the fucking media sometimes.

“Still asking questions about Landy?” Nate asks quietly, nudging her gently.

She shrugs, still mildly irritated and stewing a little. It’s not really in her nature but she’s been dealing with this shit - first Nate and now Gabe - for years. Literally as soon as she made the show, she’s been answering questions about her teammates, with the unspoken insinuation that she can’t possibly keep her legs crossed around all these male hockey players. Nate’s her bro though because he shut every reporter down who suggested that the two of them were more than teammates. Not that he got half as many questions as Tyson did, of course. It’s only ever the girls who get the stupidest questions.

And like, she kinda gets it. There’s been some romances in the locker room over the past few years and it makes a good story, she supposes. Personally, she couldn’t give a fuck who Jamie was boning in Dallas and honestly, the less she hears about it the better. If he posts another picture of him and Segs being disgustingly cute on his private instagram, she’s gonna unfollow him anyway. It’s the principle of the thing.

So yeah, she gets it. But she’s not boning any of her teammates and she’s not going to now or in the future, mostly because they’re all disgusting and need to shower more often.

But for some reason, no matter how many times she denies it, the media just doesn’t fucking believe her. And yeah, okay, maybe she shouldn’t have said repeatedly that Gabe was her favorite teammate but he’s her captain and he’s awesome and sometimes people need to be reminded of that.

Also, Gabe just refuses to answer any questions about their hypothetical relationship. He just gives reporters his best media smile and tells them that they’re great friends on and off the ice, which is like, the least helpful response ever.

“I just wanna shower and go home and eat all the ice cream in my freezer,” she tells him with a pat on his knee. “And not have to answer questions about my apparently insatiable appetite for blond hockey players. It’s so boring.”

Nate tugs on a curl that’s flopping down into her eyes. “Sorry,” he tells her. “You want me to tell Landy to shut them up?”

“Like he’d listen to you,” Tyson says, rolling her eyes. Gabe’s as stubborn as anyone she’s ever met, for all his charming smiles and politeness. She pats Nate’s knee again and then stands up, stretching her arms up high and rolling her shoulders. She took a hit from Big Buff in the game that completely dazed her for a few minutes and she’s pretty sure that if she bothered to look at her right shoulder, she’d probably find some pretty ugly bruising.

Tyson strolls into the showers and lets the hot spray of water sluice over her, washing away the sweat and grime of the game. She blocks out the sounds of her teammates around her and relaxes while she washes her hair.

She’s feeling a million times better and in a much better mood by the time she’s dressed and she waves a cheery goodbye to half the team while she waits for Nate to finish getting ready.

“Good game tonight,” Gabe says as he stops by her stall with his usual beaming smile.

“We lost,” Tyson reminds him dryly.

“Yeah, but we won last night,” he says, which should make no sense at all but Tyson remembers last year all too well. She remembers night after night of losses and utter misery in the locker room. This year already feels different and they’re definitely winning more than they’re losing.

Still. “Landesnerd,” she mutters, just because.

Gabe’s grin widens and god, he is so handsome it’s unfair.

“Shut up,” Tyson says, feeling her cheeks flame.

Luckily Nate chooses that moment to finally stop doing his hair. “Hey, Tys, you ready?”

Tyson looks up to the ceiling and prays for strength. “Are you kidding? I’ve been ready for ages.”

“Hey, enjoy your night, yeah?” Gabe tells her, his hand landing briefly on her shoulder before he’s gone, moving on to talk to Mikko and leaving her to grab her stuff and hurry after Nate.

“Sorry to interrupt your conversation with Landy,” Nate say slyly as they walk towards his car.

Tyson seriously considers tripping him, and it’s only the potential injuries that stop her. She doesn’t need another repeat of what happened at Worlds, thanks. “Seriously,” she says flatly instead.

“Alright,” Nate says, unlocking his car so she can clamber in. “So, ice cream?”

“Ice cream,” Tyson agrees happily.

*

Dutchy gets traded in November and on the one hand, Tyson’s been preparing for him to leave for the past year but on the other hand, she’d almost convinced herself that he’d stay if he hadn’t left by now. It’s kinda shitty to be told during the game, which they lose anyway, and it’s really shitty to not even get to say goodbye before he’s just gone. His stall is cleared by the end of the first period and that’s it. He’s gone.

Tyson’s one of the smallest on the ice during any given game, but perhaps especially against the Bruins. It doesn’t stop her from trying to take out her frustration and anger out on the ice, throwing more hits than she usually does. She’s probably lucky to come out of the game with only a few bruises, but whatever. Dutchy’s gone and to the fucking Senators who they play next in fucking Sweden, like what were the odds on that? She’s going to play against him in a few days while he’s wearing the wrong colours and trying to score against them and it’s awful. It’s fucking tragic and she’s never been more grateful to not have to answer any media questions after the game than she is tonight.

Fucking Senators.

*

Tyson’s met Gabe’s sister a few times but she doesn’t get to the US all that often. So when they land in Sweden, she’s unsurprised to find Bea waiting for them in the hotel lobby. She takes a run at Gabe, who catches her easily and swings her around, both of them talking nonstop in Swedish as the rest of the team walks around them, smiling indulgently at the Captain’s happiness.

She keeps half an eye on the twins as they’re checked in and keycards get distributed. Bea is as beautiful and statuesque as her brother, with long blond hair and gorgeous skin that Tyson totally envies.

Gabe’s been pretty insufferable about this whole trip for the past month and Tyson has done probably more than her fair share of teasing and mocking him for it, but it’s pretty sweet to see how happy he is in his hometown. Perhaps she’ll cut him some slack for an hour or so.

The problem, she thinks when she’s in her hotel room and starfished on her double bed all to herself, is that everyone in Sweden looks hot. Every female she’s seen so far has been blonde and fair-eyed with porcelain skin and they’re like, a foot taller than she is. She might be generalising a teeny tiny bit, but basically, they’re all Elsa from Frozen, as far as she can tell.

And like, Tyson doesn’t have any body issues or hang ups about how she looks. Sure, she’s short and built and a brunette with the worst curls in the world that won’t ever just calm the fuck down unless she pays a stylist some obscene amount of money for the day, but she’s cute, okay? She’s cute and she’s never had any problems picking up or being picked up. She’s had boyfriends. Cute boyfriends. Boyfriends who liked to show her off.

But right now, she’s in a country full of women who look like every girl Gabe’s ever dated since he moved to Colorado. All beautiful, female versions of Gabe with his great hair and brilliant smile, his perfect body and his innate charm. They’re probably all just as sweet as all his dates too, she thinks grumpily.

Tyson has terrible hair and okay, her teeth are pretty good and her body is tight. But she’s awkward as fuck and she’ll be the first to admit it. Unless she’s on the ice, then she’s as graceful - usually, anyway - as any other player. She’s embarrassingly honest and no one in the world would ever describe her as ‘sweet’. Delightful, maybe. But not sweet. Basically, she’s in a country full of people that remind her that she’s not Gabe’s type in any way, shape or form and that’s fine because she doesn’t care anyway.

She hits the pillow twice in frustration.

Whatever. Gabe is the fucking worst.

*

They lose both games, which sucks so bad, but the worst part by far is facing off against Dutchy. Some of the guys take a run at him and Tyson’s gonna yell at them later for it because Dutchy just looked utterly lost. She desperately wants to go find him to give him a hug but that probably wouldn’t go down too well with the rest of the team. So instead, she’s steadily getting drunk in the funky Colorado bar Gabe chose and mostly hanging onto EJ to make sure she doesn’t do anything embarrassing like fall flat on her face.

EJ is nice and tall and she doesn’t get weird looks when she’s with him, unlike when she’s drunk and leaning on Nate to keep herself upright. Fucking reporters with their bullshit opinions.

“There’s never any rumors about me and you,” she complains, waving her drink around dangerously until EJ puts his hand on her wrist and gently pushes until he’s no longer in danger of getting glass in his eye. “Why are there never any rumors about us? We’d be hot together.”

She hears EJ sighing heavily and blinks up at him. “The world can’t handle how hot we’d be, Tys,” he assures her.

Tyson nods seriously until she gets distracted by spotting Gabe talking to Nate across the bar and her mood darkens. It’s been a shitty few days losing both games and Gabe was all sad and Dutchy was sad and she misses him and last year was awful and now they’re back in Colorado and Dutchy isn’t and she hates everything right now.

“Why does everything think I have a crush on Gabe anyway?” she stares into her now empty glass a little bitterly. Yeah, they’re friends but mostly because they play on the same team and it’d be so awkward if she didn’t get along with her captain. That only leads to being traded and she likes Colorado. They hang out - at other people’s houses - and they do loads of interviews and shit for the PR team - the less said about the whole Valentine’s Day fiasco the better, in her opinion - but like, Nate is her one and only boo while Gabe makes EJ and Mikko hang around with him.

“Like I’d be into that anyway,” Tyson says loudly and by the odd look EJ gives her, she suspects she might have zoned out for a bit between thoughts. “Gabe. Like I’d be into Gabe. All that hair and vanity? No thank you very much.” She sways a little and beams up at EJ when he steadies her. He’s the best. He’s no Nate, but he’s almost as good. “He spends so much time getting ready, who does that? And he’s like, literally the meanest about how much I like to eat. Guys should never be mean to a girl for liking her food. So I love dessert, who cares? But he just picks at me all the time, you know?”

A strange arm falls down over her shoulder and she tenses, ready to sock some punk in the mouth except that when she turns, she happens to know this particular Swedish punk. “Oh,” she says and snuggles in closer, humming happily when he chuckles and squeezes her shoulder.

“I’m wounded,” he says dramatically and she rolls her eyes at him because no one in the world is a bigger drama queen than Gabe. “I thought we were friends, Tys.”

Tyson wrinkles her nose and reluctantly shoves him away. “Like you care if there’s one girl who doesn’t swoon at your feet,” she grumbles. “I’m sure you could just turn around now and charm the panties off whoever’s behind you.”

Tyson catches Gabe’s gaze - one eyebrow raised quizzically, and together they both look behind them. Tyson tries to be subtle but she’s almost certain she fails. Especially when they see Zadorov standing directly behind Gabe and they both start giggling, with even EJ managing a quirk of his lips.

“You think I can do it?” Gabe solemnly asks her.

“I believe in you, Captain,” she manages before they both burst into giggles again.

*

In the morning, there’s photos. The whole team was at the bar last night but apparently the only two people who were photographed out of everyone were her and Gabe. Of course. Tyson stares at the first one - EJ’s hand is on her wrist but he’s been strategically cropped out because that story doesn’t sell as well. No, the story they want is Tyson wetting her panties for the gorgeous Swedish captain and they’re certainly trying their best to sell it.

She closes the page without looking at the rest or reading whatever crap they’ve written today because she’s heard it all before. In surround sound, on repeat, blasting over and over again.

Morning skate doesn’t last nearly long enough so she takes her time getting ready, delaying any media questions for as long as possible. Forever would be nice, but she’s not that lucky.

She’s only half-listening when a small scrum forms around Gabe’s stall but instead of giving his standard answer about how great their relationship is, on and off the ice, Gabe pauses after the reporter asks his question about whether there’s anything to the story of an off-ice relationship between Gabe and his only female teammate.

“Me and Tyson?” she can hear the smile in his voice and she narrows her gaze towards him. He’s all pink and sweaty from scrimmaging and his hair is wildly out of control. He totally pulls it off, the asshole. “No, there’s nothing there I’m afraid, guys. In all honestly, she turned me down. Way too good for a guy like me, you know?”

Tyson is vaguely aware that her jaw has dropped because Nate is right next to her, a finger under her chin, pushing upwards so that her mouth snaps shut. What the hell? Gabe chooses now to quash the rumors? Like this? She glares at him when he glances over and grins.

“So, sorry guys. No story there, unless you want to write about my broken heart. And no, it hasn’t affected the team at all. We’re still buddies. She’s pretty cool like that.”

One of the reporters clearly has her shit together better than the rest of the middle-aged guys next to her and looks over to where Tyson’s sitting, fully clothed and slack-jawed. Tyson swears silently and gives her the tiniest nod and then in a blink she’s being asked five different questions about Gabe all at once.

“Guys, c’mon,” she says dryly, trying to sound more composed than she feels. She’s pretty sure she’s not fooling anyone though. “Surely you’ve got better things to write about than the Captain striking out once.” She throws Gabe a smirk of her own but he’s not looking her way, which just adds to her annoyance so she figures she might as well sell it. “The poor guy is heartbroken, cut him some slack, yeah? Just because he was completely inconsolable, that’s no reason to kick the guy when he’s down.”

The weirdest part of this whole situation though is when the reporters just nod at her answer, taking it as gospel when she’s clearly being ridiculous. Even the female reporter, who Tyson really feels ought to know better.

“Give him some time to heal,” she says, clenching her hand into a fist and placing it over her heart. The reporters nod again before they stop their recorders and disperse around the locker room.

Tyson likes to think that she lives her life without regret or embarrassment.

Mostly.

*

So apparently Nate gave the reporters some extra quotes about how Gabe and Tyson are consummate professionals and how the whole situation hasn’t caused any problems in the room and even Mikko has given some garbled response that she can’t quite figure out. He’s either rooting for the two of them to work things out and get married or he’s making a poor joke and possibly suggesting that Gabe should go play in the minors. It’s pretty confusing.

It’s a big story, anyway. There’s several articles in the press about how Tyson broke Gabe’s heart and how the Viking is battling through his heartache. It’s ridiculous and Tyson’s kind of embarrassed for the reporters who have actually put their byline to these clearly fabricated stories. Mostly though she’s annoyed by the comments underneath, raising that age-old stupid question of whether women should be allowed in the NHL and how they’re ‘distracting’ the men from doing their job.

But she’s an old pro at this now and she waits impatiently for it to peter out.

Except it doesn’t. She gets asked about Gabe after every skate and game, until she just refuses point blank to answer and pretends she doesn’t hear the question. Every few days, Gabe gets asked if he’s still heartbroken over Tyson and fuck those reporters because Tyson’s right there in the room and she can hear the disbelief in their voices when they put the question forward. That’s just being downright rude, but whatever. She doesn’t even care.

She puts up with it for two weeks before she slumps down into a chair next to Gabe while they’re out for a team lunch. The season is going surprisingly well and Gabe’s being all militant about team bonding and Tyson’s all over that. She loves her team and she loves being sociable and she loves food. It’s a win/win/win for her, honestly.

She just has this one itty bitty problem that Gabe’s gonna solve for her because he’s a good captain and he’s her friend and he’s probably as bored about all this as she is.

“Landesnerd,” she greets him with a cheery grin.

“Hello Tyson,” he says warily, shifting slightly in his chair and feigning a casualness that she totally knows is fake. God, he’s a nerd. “What can I do for you?”

“Well,” Tyson pauses and tilts her head. “Since you asked, you can give me the rest of your pumpkin pie if you’re not gonna eat it.”

Gabe slides the plate over and Tyson grins, her mood immediately improved as she quickly shovels the remains of his pie into her mouth in case he changes his mind.

“That’s disgusting,” Gabe murmurs, staring at her.

Tyson swallows the last bite and swipes her hand across her mouth before she shrugs, unconcerned. “I love pie,” she says unapologetically.

Gabe reaches up to brush a stray crumb from her cheek and she freezes for just a second before Gabe picks up a napkin and wipes his hand. It gives her just enough time to cover the fact that her heart started racing like she’s been bag-skated, all from a simple, innocent touch.

“So,” she says, relieved when her voice sounds totally normal, “I keep getting stupid questions about you in my media scrums.”

Gabe’s lips quirk into a smile. “Yeah?” he asks, obviously amused.

“Oh c’mon,” Tyson whines, slumping back into her chair and wishing she had more pie. “Why are you still giving them quotes for their dumb stories? And who believes all this shit?”

Gabe sighs and sits back, his legs sprawled wide and his arm resting against the back of her chair, his fingertips close enough to touch her if he wanted to. Tyson very deliberately doesn’t think about it. At all. “Tyson,” he says, his voice pitched low and she totally doesn’t shiver at that at all. So what if he sounds all sexy while he says her name? “I thought we could be something special and you just stomped all over my feelings. You broke my heart. ”

Tyson gapes at him for probably a full minute before she huffs loudly and stands up, her chair legs scraping against the tile floor of the restaurant. “In your dreams,” she says through gritted teeth before she flounces off to find Nate and complain to him about their terrible captain and maybe steal his dessert too.

She deserves more dessert, dammit.

*

It’s mid December and the Central Division sucks ass but they’re totally in the race. Mostly thanks to Nate, who’s been an absolute beast on the ice. He’s dragging the entire team on his back and Tyson’s doing her best to keep up. They all are. And they’ve got a fucking chance. A slim one, but Tyson will take it.

“Those two goals were beauties,” she tells Nate over the loud music playing in the bar. Josty picked the place, so it’s naturally terrible but she’s been to worse. “Absolute beauties.”

“Thanks,” Nate says, clicking his bottle against hers and giving her a shy smile. It’s freaking adorable and Tyson kinda wants to kiss him.

“I’d totally kiss you,” she blurts out with a slightly embarrassed laugh. “You know, just for those goals. Not because I wanna have sex with you or anything because that would be gross.”

Nate laughs at that and ruffles her hair. It’s actually behaving tonight for once in her life so she quickly bats Nate’s hand away and pouts at him.

“Totally gross,” he agrees. “Not to mention Gabe would probably have a serious problem with you kissing anyone on the team that’s not him.”

“Oh for -,” Tyson smacks his chest and glares up at him. “Enough, yeah? Can we just drop this whole pretense because I’m pretty fucking sick of it.”

Nate blinks at her. “Who’s pretending?” he asks, lifting his bottle to his lips and taking a long gulp.

“Everyone!” Tyson throws her hands up in the air dramatically because she feels like the moment warrants it. “Everyone is pretending like its a huge joke that I’d turn him down or that he’d actually have feelings for me.”

Nate frowns and puts his bottle down before he grabs at her hands and holds them tight. He looks earnest and confused and Tyson should probably not let him drink any more, even though she’s pretty certain that he’s only had one beer. “Tyson, Gabe totally has a thing for you and you told the entire team that he’s too vain and mean for you to be interested. Like, I was right behind Gabe when you said it.”

Tyson rolls her eyes. “Nate, seriously, this isn’t funny.”

“Tyson, seriously,” Nate mimics her before he sighs. “Seriously though. Gabe has a thing for you and has for ages. He’s always bragging about being a stallion and how he’s your favorite even though everyone knows that’s actually me but whatever. Like, last year just before the end of the season, Gabe got trashed and told me this sad story about how he thought he’d charmed his way into your hotel room last Valentine’s Day except you gave him the wrong room number. It was sad as fuck, Tyson. But he’s not pretending, I swear.”

Tyson wonders if she’s gone into shock because she literally cannot move a single muscle. Except for her mouth which is doing a great goldfish impression where she keeps trying to say something but nothing comes out aside from an embarrassingly high-pitched whine.

“What?” she finally breathes and Nate just stares at her until she finally remembers how her body works and she swings around, finding Gabe in the crowd immediately.

She storms through the club until she’s standing in front of Gabe and gives him a shove that takes him by surprise because he actually stumbles back a few steps.

“Okay, I don’t need to be here,” EJ murmurs and walks away, leaving Tyson alone with her captain.

“You came to my room?” she half-shouts, poking at his chest until he catches her hand and holds on so she can’t jab at him anymore. But now she’s kind of holding his hand and her breath catches. “You came to my room, on Valentine’s Day?” she says, softer this time.

Even in the dark club, Tyson can see the flush creeping over Gabe’s cheeks. He looks embarrassed, pulling her further away from the rest of their team who are definitely pretending to not stare at them.

“What?” he finally asks, and Tyson can spot a stalling tactic when she sees one.

“Nate said you came to my room,” she says, staring up at Gabe. She’s almost waiting for him to deny it, but he doesn’t. “I mean, not my room because I just blurted out a number when we were being filmed because I was flustered and I couldn’t remember my own name at the time after you called me the sun in your life or whatever, but you came to my room?”

“I’m gonna kill Nate,” is all Gabe says and Tyson’s mind explodes.

“Gabe, focus! Did you come to my room?”

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I thought I was coming to your room, anyway. It was probably the most embarrassing moment of my life when some random dude opened the door and then asked for an autograph.”

Tyson takes a deep breath and finds herself swaying forward, right into Gabe’s space where she can put her hands on his shoulders and tilt her head back and jerk backwards so hard that she winces. “Oh my god.”

“Look,” Gabe says, sounding a little desperate, “we can just forget all about this. It’s not important. You already turned me down once, and I got it, alright? You really don’t have to do it again.”

“Shut up,” Tyson hisses at him, flailing a little before she grabs his hand and holds on as tight as she can. “We’re gonna go back to your place because you’ve got Zoey and I’m gonna pet her and then I’m gonna bang you so fucking hard, Landesnerd, so shut up.”

Gabe justs stares at her looking a little dazed.

“C’mon, Gabriel,” she says, frustrated in every possible way she can think of, but mostly sexually and Gabe being slow and stupid is really hindering her right now. “We’re not doing this in public.”

“No, yeah of course,” Gabe says, apparently snapping out of whatever fuguelike state he was lost in. He makes up for it though by hurriedly ushering her out of the bar without saying a single goodbye to the team which she’s totally gonna roast him for later. Like, after she’s had his dick.

Gabe manages to get the slowest Uber driver in the world to drive them home and Tyson might actually vibrate out of her skin soon if she doesn’t get to put her hands all over Gabe in the next two minutes. She’s being offered fucking ambrosia here and time is wasting.

When they finally tumble out of the car, Tyson feels like she’s on fire. She’s hot and trembling and it’s only self-survival that has her dropping to her knees when Gabe opens the door to give Zoey a cuddle and murmur nonsense into her fur. She breathes in, once, twice, and tries to steady herself before she does something embarrassing.

Who is she kidding. She’s definitely going to humiliate herself somehow here.

“Oh my god, let go of my dog,” Gabe says tightly from behind her.

Tyson looks up in surprise - it’s not a tone she’s used to hearing from him - and the heat in his eyes has her scrambling to her feet. He takes her hand and marches her through the house until they reach what is obviously the master bedroom. Gabe slams the door shut behind him and starts unbuttoning his shirt, his eyes not leaving hers once.

“You made some pretty bold promises back there, Tys,” he says softly, his shirt falling from his broad shoulders.

Tyson groans because she just really, really wants to bite him. All over. She strips off with ruthless efficiency, preening when she catches Gabe frozen mid-strip, staring at her. “C’mon,” she says, giving him two seconds warning before she launches herself at him, knocking him backwards onto the bed. She’s sprawled over him, grinning because she’s naked and he’s naked and this is literally the best thing that’s ever happened to her. “Hi,” she says brightly.

Gabe smothers a laugh and rolls them both until she’s the one flat on her back and he’s leaning over her, his stupid blue eyes twinkling because he’s a goddamn Disney prince. Then he’s kissing her and every single thought flies out of her head because it’s spinning. Her head is literally spinning just from a kiss and his hand cupping her cheek, firm and solid and okay, that’s his bicep that she’s just petting now.

“Sorry,” she mumbles against his mouth but he doesn’t seem to notice. He’s too busy running his other hand over her body, all soft caresses and teasing touches that have her groaning and arching up into his body, silently asking for more because she doesn’t trust her voice right now.

“Wait,” Gabe murmurs, kissing her again and once more before he pulls back. Tyson tries to tug him back down but he’s stronger than her, which is annoying, and he keeps a few inches between them and it’s the worst. “I uh, can’t do this if you’re not, um, interested?”

Tyson blinks up at him for a few seconds before she very deliberately looks down at where their bodies are pressed together as intimately as possible, her legs wrapped around his hips and his hand gently cupping her breast. “Uh, Gabe? I’m naked and in your bed? I think I’m pretty damn interested, here.”

Gabe shakes his head and drops his head onto her shoulder. “Tyson,” he groans, clearly avoiding her gaze. “I don’t just mean sex, okay?”

Tyson takes a moment to let that sink in before she exhales slowly and rolls out from underneath him, grabbing a sheet and pulling it right up under her chin and picks at the sheet nervously. “Okay, so you know I’m kinda really into you,” she says, her face flaming as she stares at the wall opposite so that she doesn’t have to do anything embarrassing, like look at Gabe’s face. “And I know you totally know that because I humiliate myself pretty regularly around you. Like, every reporter that covers the team knows about my huge, embarrassing crush on you. So yeah. I’m interested, okay? I wouldn’t fuck with the team if I wasn’t.”

Gabe crawls over her until she finds herself being gently pushed back against the pillows and he trails kisses from her lips to her throat, plucking the sheets from her death grip and trailing lower. “I like how into me you are,” he says, glancing up to grin at her. “Because I’m just as into you, so I guess that makes us equal.”

Tyson takes a moment to consider that before she grins back at him and threads her fingers through his hair. Then she gives him a gentle push and shifts her legs a little further apart. “Keep going then,” she says, laughing when he blows a raspberry against her belly.

“So bossy,” Gabe tuts, but he slides a little lower and kisses the inside of her thigh, drawing a shaky moan from Tyson. “But you taste so sweet,” he murmurs. “So sweet.”

“I’m already naked,” Tyson gasps, her hands grasping at the sheets for purchase. “Stop trying to charm my panties off.”

Gabe laughs softly and if Tyson’s brain was working at all at this point, she’d probably think about how she’s very possibly in love with this loser.

That’s a problem for tomorrow, though.


End file.
